Best tunes of 2010: #15 LCD Soundsystem “Drunk girls”

There’s not too many bands or artists out there right now that are as well-respected and well-reviewed or have as much indie rock cred as James Murphy’s dance punk collective, LCD Soundsystem.

I couldn’t tell you how I heard about them originally but my first exposure was their self-titled debut LP, shortly after its release in 2005. I loved that album from the first and how it seemed to traverse pretty much every musical genre within its nine songs, from classic rock to glam to post-punk to techno, and at the same time, name check pretty much any influential musical artist ever. On the other hand, I wasn’t quite as enthused with their sophomore release, 2007’s “Sound of silver”, given its solid push into dance territory (I was likely alone with this sentiment) but there were still some great tracks within. In 2010, the band released their third record, “This is happening”, and then, called it quits, performing one ‘last’ show at Madison Square Garden that famously became the subject of the documentary/concert film, “The long goodbye”. But as we all know now, that show in 2011 wasn’t truly the end and Murphy and friends reunited for more shows and have released yet another well-reviewed album, titled “American dream”, last month.

“Drunk girls” was the second single released from that third (and ‘final’) album back in 2010 and incidentally, appears second in the track order. Murphy has called it a ‘dumb song’ and I suppose it is somewhat nonsensical, but it’s far from dumb. Maybe he considers it so because of its accessibility. It’s the shortest song on the album and yet, perhaps the rowdiest of the bunch, proudly living up to its name. With the repeated line, alternatively “drunk girls” or “drunk boys”, it’s an easy song to shout along with and gather up steam on the dance floor. But the intermingling lines are the real gems, often hilarious observations on societal absurdities, poking fun at clubland mating rituals. At the same time, the beat and Murphy’s brilliantly off-kilter delivery make for good times indeed, often conducive to another round of Jaegermeister or tequila shots. Played at exactly the right time at a packed club on a Saturday night, it could make things very messy indeed.